More handpicked essays just for you.
The conflicts in the catcher in the rye
Catcher in the rye controversy
The conflicts in the catcher in the rye
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Catcher in the Rye was written by J.D. Salinger in 1946. This book is considered by some to be a classic, but yet some others deem this book as one of the most controversial books in American literature. Throughout the United States, some schools and libraries have banned the book, but other schools and libraries have kept the book in its curriculum and taught as a “must-read” to students. So, why is this book being banned in the first place? In Salinger’s novel, the main character is Holden Caulfield, a stereotypical teenager facing psychological troubles. After getting kicked out of his school for the fifth time at the age of 16, he goes on a journey that takes him all the way to New York. Through his journey, he encounters many different …show more content…
and unique situations that might seem very disturbing to others in today’s world. In so for, The Catcher in the Rye should be banned in all schools across the country because of its controversial and crude parts that are mentioned in the book. Throughout his journey, Holden socializes with lots of different people, but communicates to them in a very sophisticated and insulting way.
When Holden talks, he mostly swears in every sentence he says. Some swears he says are minor, such as hell or damn, or as major and offensive as bastard and sonuvabitch. “‘You’re a dirty stupid sonuvabitch of a moron,’ I told him,” (50). With Holden’s habit of swearing in almost everything he says, it might seem very surprising to people, considering the fact that Holden is just only a 16-17 years old teenager. An example of Holden’s consistent swearing is a conversation he had with Ackley in chapter 3. During Holden’s conversation with Ackley, they swore 31 times alone from page 23 all the way up to page 28. That is outrageous! Such vulgar and consistent swearing that Holden says almost all the time should never be said by anyone younger or anyone that is about Holden’s …show more content…
age. With the extreme language mentioned in the Holden, it also states some moments of some extreme violence as well.
An example of extreme violence mentioned in the book is a story about James Castle, a boy Holden knew at his previous school. According to Holden’s words, James was being harassed by other students because he said something very offensive to someone. Instead of taking his words back, he couldn’t stand what the other students were saying and jumped out of the window only to fall to his very death. “He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him,”(188). This brief story of James Castle represents how bullying can cause suicide. James Castle was harassed in a very repulsive way that Holden can’t even describe. It was so repulsive that it eventually led to the death of an innocent student jumping out of a window. However, this example of suicide is very illogical. The chances of a person killing himself because of calling someone a name and it getting heavily back-lashed are very slim and it would be a very unnecessary thing to do if this had happened to
someone. Both sexual violence and alcoholism can be very disturbing topics to talk about and both of these topics are mentioned in the book multiple times. In chapter 13, Holden was offered a stripper by a complete stranger for $15 for the night. “‘Okay. I’ll send a girl up in about fifteen minutes.’ He opened the doors and I got out. ‘Hey, is she good-looking?’ I asked him. ‘I don’t want any old bag,’”(102). Isn’t it insanity for a young teenager like Holden to be able to buy services from a stripper? Not only that, the book begins to portray Holden as an alcoholic in many different ways. “It’s a funny thing, I always shiver like hell when I’m drunk,”(168). The book portrays Holden as an alcoholic in many different ways. It mentions that one of Holden’s favorite drinks is a frozen daiquiri, a cocktail that contains rum. The book also states that Holden had went to 4 bars in one night. Holden throughout the book is very lonely and depressed and it seems like that the book is saying that drinking is a way for Holden to numb all the sadness away and make readers think that drinking alcoholic drink is a way of solving your personal problems. The Catcher in the Rye is considered by many as one of the greatest, but the most controversial book in American literature. Even though this book is deemed controversial by some across the country, it is still taught in many English classes as a “must-read” novel in other parts of the country. But, this book should be read by mature adults rather than teens that do not have the mind of making smart choices. This book talks about a lot of disturbing and controversial topics in Holden’s journey such as sexual violence, alcoholism, and suicide along with many moments of dialogue containing vulgar language. This book should not be read by teens because of its inappropriate topics that are mentioned in an inappropriate way that many teens have experienced before.
Despite being a worldwide best seller, J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has been on the banned books list since 1961 ( (Baldassarro). The Catcher in the Rye tells the short journey, of anti-hero Holden Caulfield, between the end of the fall semester and Christmas break (Salinger). The story begins when Holden is expelled from his school, Pency Prep, for failing a majority of his classes (Salinger). Holden knows he must return home, so he attempts to prolong the scolding he will receive from his parents, for being expelled, by venturing around Manhattan until it becomes necessary to return to his home (Salinger). Holden tells his story in the most vulgar way possible. Holden accounts being offered a prostitute by an elevator operator when he asks, “Innarested a little tail t’night?” (Salinger 91). Offensive language is also used throughout the book, for example, “You’re a dirty stupid sonuvabitch of a moron” (Salinger 44). Underage drinking is also one of Holden’s favorite passtimes as evident in the quote, “I ordered a scotch and soda, and told him not to mix it- I said it fast as hell, because if you hem and haw, they think you’re under twenty-one and won’t sell you any intoxicating liquor” (Salinger 69). These three quotes express the precise justifications for banning books: sexually explicit content, offensive language, and underage drug use (Association). Although, many consider The Catcher in the Rye to be morally wrong, it should not ...
Did you ever think that books that have sex, obscene language, and immoral subjects can make a good book? The Catcher in the Rye has been on the banned reading list for exactly those reasons. The book was mainly put on disapproval from between 1966 and 1975 in almost every school district in the United States. The book was said to be so bad that in 1960 a teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was fired for assigning the book to an eleventh-grade English class. Despite some opposition to the novel, however, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye should be on a reading list for the freshman students because it gives a crystal clear image on how the world is in violence, sex, and obscenity and the book also teaches the motifs of lying and deception.
The novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger depicts a journey of a young man named Holden Caulfield where he encounters many of life’s challenges. As Holden has been bouncing between schools all his life, he just recently got kicked out of his current one: Pencey Prep. He has trouble focusing in school and has experienced many traumatic events in his life, like the death of his little brother Allie. Many believe the novel should be banned, but there is an underlying message Holden is trying to communicate. Throughout Holden's journey many feel that there were ban-worthy moments, but the traits he demonstrates are most powerful: compassion, maturity/coming of age and intelligence.
Holden felt really bummed out after he had been treated very harshly by Maurice. He was now not alone, but hurt with no one to help him. Also, Holden uses the word “suicide” six times and the word “kill” 64 times in the novel (“Catcher in the Rye: Student Resource”). Holden’s choice of words tells the reader where his thoughts are. Holden’s use of words related to death conveys Holden’s suicidal thoughts, therefore, his dejection can be clearly seen.
Since its publication in 1951, The Catcher In the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger has served as a conflagration for debate and extreme controversy. Although the novel has been the target of scornful criticism, it has also been the topic of wide discussion. The novel portrays the life of sixteen year old, Holden Caufield. Currently in psychiatric care, Holden recalls what happened to him last Christmas. At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey Prep School. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden leaves school and spends 72-hours in New York City before returning home. There, Holden encounters new ideas, people, and experiences. Holden's psychological battle within himself serves as the tool that uncovers the coming-of-age novel's underlying themes of teen angst, depression, and the disingenuous nature of society. The novel tackles issues of blatant profanity, teenage sex, and other erratic behavior. Such issues have supplemented the controversial nature of the book and in turn, have sparked the question of whether or not this book should be banned. The novel, The Catcher In the Rye, should not be banned from inclusion in the literature courses taught at the high school level.
In the book Holden is always being blown off, and was never taken seriously. A reason is because he wouldn’t take things serious either. Now that he is dealing with serious issues, he tends to joke and say immature things to make himself feel better. Holden was kicked out his school, Pencey Prep, due to him flunking all of his classes. He has been kicked out of previous schools for the same behavior. He doesn’t seem to care, instead he knows that he doesn’t apply himself as he should have. Holden tends to bash himself
'The novel has long ignited disapproval, and it was the most frequently banned book in schools between 1966 and 1975. Even before that time,
From the beginning of the story you can see Holden's immaturity. On the train into the city Holden runs into his friends mother; he begins to lie to her, telling her that he was not kicked out of school, but that he is going home to have surgery on his brain tumor. Eventually he ends up asking if she wanted to have drinks with him at the bar even though he is not old enough. Holden is acting very immature here because he is lying and not telling the truth about what happened, but also he is hitting on a much older women which is very inappropriate of him. Also while in a bar, drinking under age again, Holden starts to dance with three girls and begins calling them names. He describes the girls as “the three witches”, “three real morons” (pg 70) and he constantly refers to girls as ugly, “the two ugly ones’ names were Marty and Laverne.” He is so immature he is using name calling as a defense mechanism when they didn’t really want to dance with him. He continues to talk immaturely with people, when he meets up with Carl. Carl Luce is a college student that is a few years older than Holden and went to school with Holden at Whooton and was his student advisor.. Holden begins asking inappropriate questions about Carl’s
When Holden feels as if some sort of purity is threatened he assumes a bitter, angry tone. When Stradlater, someone he knows as very sexually intimate, went on a date with Jane, Holden’s childhood friend, Holden became so angry that he reacted physically: “I got off from the bed… and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddamn throat open” (43). This shows that Holden feels it his responsibility to preserve all innocence, to prevent people or things from becoming phony. His failure to do so results in uncontrollable bouts of rage. When he reads swear words in the bathroom of his sister’s school, he says “I kept wanting to kill whoever’d written it” (201). He was thinking about all the children who would see the words, and felt powerless to stop its effects, so he became extremely angry.
Often times, when a ban is put in place on an object – such as a book – it sparks an interest or curiosity, rather than shutting that object down. Such is the case for The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Multiple schools across the country have banned it due to its, at the time of publication, controversial point of view. However, over time, the story of Holden Caulfield and his struggle to find happiness in a world full of phones has become one of the most important works of literature to date.
Released in 1951, Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye" is a story of a seventeen year old American schoolboy Holden Caulfield, who was excluded from his school before Christmas for academic failure. The main idea of the novel is the rejection of falsehood, which is manifested in the moral standards prevailing in the society and in the people, events, and objects. This is closely linked to the image of the protagonist. Holden Caulfield introduces the reader not only to the external part of his life (time-space of the novel consists of three days, one of which the hero stays at school in Pansy, and the other two - in his home of New York City), but also internal perceptions of the people familiar to him, of certain situations, his own character.
One minute he is saying how much he loves Sally, his on and off girlfriend, but by the end of his date with her he is saying how much he hates her. Another example of Holden being a hypocrite is when he was at the bar he was thinking about how he liked the piano music but also said he wanted to flip the piano over because he dislikes musicians and actors who cater/work for their audience. This makes him mentally unstable because he is unable to maintain one
The Catcher in the Rye is a short story belonging to the Modernist age of literature and written by J. D. Salinger in 1951. In the novel, the author sheds light on the series of events in the disturbed life of a confused, aggravated adolescent, whose despises “phoniness” and all the adult evils prevalent in the society. Holden Caulfield is portrayed to be an impressionable teenager who is exceedingly sensitive to the evils prevailing in the society. He believes that all the lying, deceit, hypocrisy and moral degeneracy that the adults of the society practice as common behavior is the reason which completely obliterates the innocence and beauty of the external world. Holden in deeply affected by his encounters with hypocrisy and phoniness, and
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a remarkable book that gives readers a unique and perhaps gloomy perspective of the 1950's through Holden Caulfield, a cynical and peculiar teenager. Through The Catcher in the Rye Salinger describes important aspects of the 1950's. Salinger emphasizes several key characteristics of the 50's and criticizes them through Holden. In addition, Holden Caulfield is a very interesting character with several traits that put him at odds with society.
Although he was joining World War II, for a few years, he chose to keep writing his novel. After the war finished, he decided to go back to United States, and he finished his novel and published The Catcher in the Rye In the book, the plot was in New York City because it was the city where Salinger grew up and he tried to show the reality of living in New York City looks like. In 1930, United State society was experiencing the progressive era. During the World War II, the economic crisis also happened in America. In his book, Holden Caulfield also experience the economic crisis as well, and he mentioned “In New York, boy, money, really talks - I’m not kidding.” (Salinger 69). Other than that, in Salinger’s life time period, a lot of youth culture loses their innocent in America and Salinger wants to protect their innocent. Like Caulfield, he sayid that “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some on this big field or rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around -- nobody big, I mean -- except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff -- I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.” (Salinger, 173) Holden Caulfield feels a similar desire to protect the youth culture of America from the inevitable corruption of conformist America. During that time, there was a lot of demo happened in his life. No one tried to fight against the government, this inspired Salinger to reflect Holden Caulfield as the character of the rebellion. After the novel was published, it started to make the young people rebel against the society and make them be able to keep their purity. Adopt the cultural changes happen in the society is not an easy things to do for